The prospect of an endangered isopod habitat has halted work on a section of West Virginia 9 right here in the Eastern Panhandle.  Last week the governor re-allocated $21 million in federal funding designated for the project to a Fairmont area road project instead.Highway Engineer Marvin Murphy of the West Virginia Division of Highways says no actual isopod, which is a type of crustacean, has been found; but because it is considered an endangered species, any sign of an isopod habitation needs to be taken seriously.
Murphey says he hopes to have penned a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to confirm that there is no isopod habitat along Route 9 by sometime in July, after which bids would go out for the project until it is contracted and work can begin.    Murphy says the project was originally slated to open West Virginia 9 from 2 lanes to 4 spanning from Charles Town to the Virginia line, but with this roadblock construction might not start until the end of the summer.  

Categories: Local News
Tags: Charles Town, Charleston, Conservation, Endangered, Governor, Isopode, manchin, West Viiginia Division of highways